Science writer sheds light on Facebook advertising fraud

Facebook’s lifeblood is advertising — getting companies to pay for impressions as users check their feed of friend’s activities. This relatively new form of customer acquisition has caused a lot of excitement — captive audience! — but also raised of questions about its efficacy. What is a “like” really worth?

Science reporter Derek Muller is trying to shed some light here. He methodically went through a few cases where the “likes” from his and other peoples’ pages get don’t seem as if they translate to much value, especially the ones purchased from Facebook.

Many of those likes came from areas known for “like farms” and Facebook users who liked hundreds or thousands of things, including combinations — like T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon — that one person would not usually like. Engagement among those users was minimal. Did their “likes” have any value?

Check the video. It is worth wondering the value in Dhaka, Bangladesh being Apple’s most popular origin of Facebook likes, considering the country’s per capita GDP is only $740.